The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of assembling small numbers of a large variety of goods, such as goods with curved elongated members like curved pipes or curved control rods.
Referring to FIG. 11(a), an automotive power steering gear assembly is described as a typical example of the items of the above kind. It comprises a gear housing 1 with an integral power cylinder 2, and curved pipes 3. Mounted within the gear housing 1 are a gear train of the rack and pinion type and a rotary valve. The curved pipes 3, which are formed by bending straight pipes, interconnect the gear housing 1 and the power cylinder 2 and serve as hydraulic fluid passages.
In the automobile assembly plants, small numbers of a large variety of automobiles are manufactured, and thus a large variety of different power steering gear assemblies are needed. Therefore, it has been the conventional practice to prepare a variety of different curved elongated pipes by bending straight pipes, each having flared ends with nuts 3a as shown in FIG. 11(b), and store a considerably large quantity of them at a suitable storage location for adequate supply to the assembly line. Upon receipt of production instructions including a product specification, an appropriate gear housing is connected to the corresponding power cylinder in accordance with the product specification. Then, an appropriate one of the curved pipes is selected at the storage location, held at a right position relative to the gear housing integral with the power cylinder, and secured thereto by tightening nuts at a predetermined torque.
Since small numbers of a large variety of different power steering gear assemblies are assembled and different curved pipes have to be prepared, a relatively large space is required at the storage location for the curved pipes.
Besides, the appropriate one of the different curved pipes is manually selected so that there is the possibility of human error in making the selection.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for and a method of assembling small number of a large variety of different products wherein the above-mentioned problems have been alleviated.